As is well known, the area on a vehicle floor carpet adjacent the accelerator pedal becomes worn by the driver's heel much sooner than other areas of the carpet. To a lesser extent, excess wear is often also seen adjacent the clutch pedal in a vehicle having a manual shift.
Because of these wear patterns, many original equipment vehicle carpets are provided with some sort of rubber or similar reinforcement pad in the high wear area of the carpet. In addition, separate mats are utilized by most vehicle owners to protect the original carpet. Many vehicle owners employ several sets of floor mats during the life of a vehicle. Most of these mats have a rubberized area to receive the heel wear. In another approach, a pad of high wear carpet is bonded or otherwise secured to the original mat or carpet in the high wear area.
A search through the existing U.S. patents has uncovered a large number of very early patents, as well as a few more recent ones directed to various mat constructions employing improvements in that area. These include U.S. Pat. Nos.: 1,426,296; 1,680,442; 1,809,706; 1,999,441; 2,136,980; 2,444,342; 2,777,789; 3,042,564; 3,114,272; 3,703,424; 3,895,981; and 4,262,048.
In spite of all the efforts in this area, needs still exist for improvements in appearance, quality and cost of floor mats.